Final Fantasy Heroes
by Kiger
Summary: Sooner or later the world is going to need saving, and when that happens, will two young men be able to take on the task alone? Or will they need the aid of a forbidden art?
1. Final Fantasy Heroes: Chapter 1

**Chapter One: Thicker Than Blood**

Authors Note: Okay, this story is highly influenced by Final Fantasy. Meaning a job system of sorts, there will also be several place names, attacks, and characters which I'm borrowing.

Believing there is a fine line between good and evil is a common practice among the citizens of Invalice, a large city in the land of Vana'diel. One of the busiest cities, Invalice is always alive, day or night, craftsmen working the lighter hours and merchants and other undesirables restrict their business to the dark of night. Our story is concerned mainly with two military cadets by the names of Jim and Kei.

Jim was orphaned as a young boy, and next to nothing is known about his biological family. Even his true age is a mystery, although it is believed he is around seventeen years old. His quick wit gained him acceptance among the other orphans, as well as the caretakers. Jim's academic achievements are decent, but his true talent is in his physical abilities. The top of his class in both sword fighting and unarmed combat Jim was sent to the military academy on the day of his seventeenth birthday. Since he doesn't know his actual birthday, he took the day he arrived at the orphanage: September twenty-eighth.

Kei's talents are the opposites of Jim's, his prowess in academic s is widely known, and because of this he was allowed to attend the military academy at the age of sixteen, the youngest to date. He is currently in his fourth year, and well versed in the art of magic, both black and white. Kei's parents are loving and kind, and want the best for their son. He also has a younger sister who was sent to the Church of Invalice to become a priestess. Kei relies more on logic, and carefully weighs out his options before taking action. Even though Kei is by no means, a fighter, he is capable of holding his own in battle for a short period of time, but a condition he's had since childhood causes him to become fatigued at a faster rate than a normal person, over the years his condition has worsened and he suffers from occasional blackouts.

Jim and Kei's friendship began one winter day during their recess hour, despite the name, recess hour lasts from two to three hours and is in the middle of the school day. During this time students are expected to take care of any needs they might have before returning to class, this includes eating lunch, socializing with friends, finishing assignments, or anything else they see fit. On the day of their meeting, it was snowing, and the majority of the students were crowded into the cafeteria. Lunch was nearing its end when a fight started to break out between two of the boys from Jim's class. Jim was the first one to try to break up the fight, in which he failed miserably, shortly after a stranger to all three of the students, Kei, arrived to help quell the fighting. Jim, who had been shoved aside, was also in the process of trying to stop the fight again, with their combined effort, the brawl was halted and everything was settled.

The events of that day lead the two to start talking, soon enough they were good friends, both helping each other with their weaker skills. Jim became smarter and Kei became stronger, they were the perfect team. Over the next six months they became more like brothers, Jim even adopted Kei's last name, as he had no family attachments to the one the orphanage gave him, and so began the story of Jim and Kei Saleh.


	2. Final Fantasy Heroes: Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: Ongoing Feud**

Several miles outside of Invalice, in the surrounding forest of Jidoor, there are two clans who populate the area. The Houkuten and the Nanten are constantly at war with each other, although the location would suggest savage fighting and uncivilized living conditions, the opposite is true.

Both the Houkuten and the Nanten live comfortably with large fortresses, and all of the accommodations of city life the citizens of Invalice enjoy. However, the bitter feud between the two has caused an uproar in the surrounding areas. Lately, the Nanten have begun using underhanded tactics to gain the advantage over the Houkuten, and thus far it has been working brilliantly.

The Nanten's leader: Vice has been hiring mercenaries for late night raids on the Houkuten's base. Unsuccessful as they might be, the attacks act as more of an annoyance and a distraction than anything else. In addition to this, Nanten assassins have started attacking both women and children, the real reason the Houkuten have sought out help from a third party.

Claude, the leader of the Houkuten has recently approached a group of well organized, and high-priced mercenaries. What sets them apart from what the Nanten are doing is that these fighters for-hire have a strict code about who they will fight for and what they will and will not do. One of the more important things to the morale based Houkuten was their promise of chivalry.

The Wind's Dragons was founded by Nicholas Kaze fourteen years ago, and since then has become widely known, people from all over Vana'diel have heard of their feats, and this has allowed them to become a premium service, in other words, very expensive.


	3. Final Fantasy Heroes: Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: Graduation Day**

"It's here!" were the only things Jim had going through his head on the day of graduation, he couldn't believe it. With Kei's help Jim was able to improve his grades substantially, in fact, Jim's name was second only to Kei's in academics that year. Kei had also learned many things, he was now an accomplished swordsman, even though Jim had tried his hardest Kei was still only an above average with a weapon, but it goes without saying, this is a great improvement from what he once was.

The entire day was filled with cadets of the academy rushing around celebrating, harassing their instructors and generally making a nuisance out of themselves, but they didn't care, they would be free in just a few hours.

Kei did his best to remain calm, but inside, he felt the same way Jim did, he would finally be able to do all of the things he had dreamt about. Remaining calm quite possibly could have been the furthest thing from Jim's mind that day, he was ecstatic. They both knew, though, they would miss this place, it had been their home for a while, the instructors like parents, and the other students like brothers and sisters. They would miss their family.

Jim had memorized the list of students graduating that day, he knew the five people leading up to himself and Kei, and one by one students were called up and handed their diploma, and just as expected Jim and Kei's turn, to go up and receive the document that signify all of their hardwork, came.

In the early hours of the morning Jim and Kei headed back their rooms after a full night of celebrating, they settled in for a few hours of sleep not having to worrying about class the next morning.


End file.
